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“Monday Night Football” exposed the great 49ers fadeout as a fraud. Once the lights stayed on at Candlestick, the 49ers undid Pittsburgh, as well as the theory that they had tapped out their energy and creativity for 2011.

The NFL doesn’t hold many statement games, outside of the Super Bowl. For the 49ers, though, this one qualified.

They rediscovered the machine-like efficiency and turnover-generating alacrity that had carried them out of eight seasons in the NFL wilderness. After losing two of their past three games, they mauled one of the NFL’s elite teams, 20-3, and proved that the franchise’s renaissance is very real.

They did it in front of a national audience and a home crowd deeply infiltrated by yellow-towel-waving troops. They also held onto the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, which the Saints were poised to grab with a Steelers win.

Above all, the 49ers made a critical point to themselves. An established team wouldn’t have been susceptible to doubt after a lull in a great season, but the 49ers are new to this winning business, and a loss to Pittsburgh easily could have dinged their confidence.

The outcome of this game should have the opposite effect. This was their most complete and impressive performance of the season. They clearly had learned something from the losses to Baltimore and Arizona. Both teams blitzed mercilessly, but the experience ultimately might have pushed the 49ers into a higher realm.

“We were feeling pretty good about ourselves going into Baltimore,” left tackle Joe Staley said. “It gave us a wake-up call.”

That night, a prime-time audience saw the Ravens sack Alex Smith nine times. Over the past three games, the 49ers had surrendered 18 sacks. On Monday night, they gave up none. Against the best pass defense in the NFL, Smith threw for 187 yards, above the average of 179.1 for previous Pittsburgh opponents.

James Harrison’s one-game suspension might have eased the task of protecting the quarterback, but he has missed four other games this year, and the Steelers won all of them.

Besides, the 49ers also had to play without their defensive fulcrum, injured linebacker Patrick Willis. Unlike Harrison, Willis could join his teammates on the field, and he delivered his ritual pregame talk, an assignment he had handed off when he couldn’t play in Arizona on Dec. 11.

The defense remained thoroughly dominant, intercepting Ben Roethlisberger three times. The quarterback’s injured ankle restricted him, preventing pocket escapes. The 49ers didn’t aim to flush him out that often. On one interception, Roethlisberger had a luxurious 10 seconds to get rid of the ball, and he still failed to find one of his men.

Only a game earlier, the defense had submitted to John Skelton, the Cardinals’ backup, who has an extremely limited repertoire. Now, they were dominating a quarterback who has won two Super Bowls, and is known for playing well even when hurt.

The offense elevated for the Steelers. It didn’t soar, but it rarely does. Nothing explains the 2011 team’s place in 49ers history quite as well as the fact that a placekicker broke Jerry Rice’s single-season scoring record – and did it with two games left.

This is who the 49ers are. This is what San Francisco sports are today – defensive teams with offenses that create excruciating anxiety. Smith played it safe through most of the game, and continued not to commit turnovers. He threw out of bounds on a pass that Michael Crabtree might have caught in the end zone. It was like watching Aubrey Huff ground out to second.

Smith has led this team to an 11-3 record, and a division title. He thrived when he could go to his comfort zone-target tight end Vernon Davis. Smith stayed under control even when the excessive presence of Pittsburgh fans did its best to disrupt his game. Eventually, the 49ers’ fans reclaimed their stadium, chanting for their defense with an unprecedented fervor.

This 49ers team will head into the playoffs with no limitations, except the daunting prospect of traveling to Green Bay. Even then, it’s impossible to predict what might happen to them in the postseason.